Yusta Bursa is one of Turkey's newest wineries which debuted its first vintage (2017) last year. With vineyards and the winery based in Bursa-"just"
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To follow on my recent post about Turkish Bordeaux blends, I thought I'd write about two vintages of Arcadia's Finesse Bordeaux. I received these
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To kick off the 2021 #WinePW calendar, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is hosting our discussion about Saké and other pairings for Asian
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The Renčel family has always had a homestead in in Karst. Each generation added to the homestead somehow. And while the family produced wine
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Syrah is the most popular international grape planted in Turkey. Not only is it the most popular international grape, it's one of the top
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Even before I visited one of Estate Gai'a's wineries I was a fan. While I went to the winery in the Nemea, Gai'a also
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While not the most widely planted native variety, Kalecik Karası holds a firm position as one of Turkey's Big Three black grapes. However, in
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It's Christmas Eve!!! Huzzah! Based in the Kalecik village outside Turkey's capitol Ankara, Vinkara owner Ardıç Gürsel laughingly described the winery as "the largest of
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It's almost Christmas! Really really almost Christmas! This was the second to last bottle of wine in my Advent box 'o wines. This was
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Much like I couldn't not include a sparkling wine in the Advent boxes 'o wine; I had to also include a sweet wine. I
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Yeah, I've lost track entirely of how many of these I've done. Based on the color alone I'm guessing young. Turkish. I think this a
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For today's post I'm taking a slight departure in that these bottles did not come from the pre-selected Advent wines. I was asked to
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This morning I got my second white wine designated for blind tasting. If I recall correctly, I put in only three whites for blind
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This lovely little number has been showing up in shops around the 'Bul lately. I've had it before and from that experience knew I
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You might perhaps notice the different Christmas tree. I took to the road for this particular wine tasting challenge. Which in reality was far
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To be honest, this wine did not come out of my boxes 'o Advent wine. I happened to be at a friend's for dinner
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Completely by coincidence did I include this bottle in my Advent boxes 'o wine. December has seen both #CabFrancDay (December 4) and a #WinePW
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After several days of no blind tasting I felt sufficiently recovered to tackle another today. As I spent all weekend making Christmas goodies I
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The third white wine out of the Advent box o' wine yielded another import from South Africa - a Chenin Blanc. I've had this
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No blind tasting for today, huzzah! That gives my brain a little bit of a break. If you read the title and thought to yourself:
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We celebrated #CabFrancDay on December 4. To keep the Cab Franc love going the December #WinePW theme explores Cabernet Franc Around the World! You
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The game is afoot! If my Sherlock (my cat) could speak Human that's likely what she'd have said to me this morning as I
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Should I decide to do a homemade Advent wine calendar next year I'm going to rethink a couple few things. One
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This morning my box o' Advent wines offered up my first white wine blind tasting bottle. One of my preparations involved removing capsules from
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I absolutely "cheated" today while selecting a bottle from my box 'o wine Advent calendar. When I determined which wines to earmark as blind
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This morning I finally managed to pull out a not blind tasting bottle! And the first white wine of the season too! What I
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It seems, based on a quick inspection of my Advent boxes o' wine, that I wrapped MOST of them to disguise the labels. Which
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It's #CabFrancDay y'all! In 2015 Lori Budd of Dracaena Wines and Exploring the Wine Glass created #CabFrancDay to celebrate her favorite grape. While I've still
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This morning I pulled out from my Advent boxes o' wine another disguised bottle. Probably in punishment for how poorly I did at guessing
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Mixed in my boxes of Advent wine I put a few disguised bottles. Because I don't have a wine geek community here I don't
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My homemade Advent wine calendar consists of two case-sized boxes. About two months ago I pull 26 wines from my collection and put them
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Every year I'm envious of friends in the States who get wine Advent calendars. When I was a kid I found those little chocolate
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Gordias winery, based in Polatlı (near Ankara), rests in the hands of former pharmacist Canan Gerimli. The winery posses a cleaner and Canan brings
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My brush with Jordanian wine comes thanks to my friend E who travels extensively for work. She bought me two bottles of Jordan River
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Turasan winery, based in Turkey's iconic Cappadocia, holds the spot as not only the largest winery in Cappadocia, but one of Turkey's most recognizable
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I frequently lament the vast amount of Bordeaux-style blends we have in Turkey. Partially because it does get rather tedious to drink the same
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Every time I go to Tbilisi I look for new wines I haven't seen before. One of my favorite sources is g.Vino wine bar.
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While it has been some time since my birthday (August) I still vividly recall one of the wines we drank: the Chateau Kalpak Petit
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While 2010 is not really that old as far as aged wines go, it’s old for the Turkish market. Finding wine commercially (frankly sometimes
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Today is International Xinomavro Day! This new grape holiday was established only last year. While I missed my chance to post about it in
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It's #Merlober! Earlier this month I participated in the #WinePW conversation about #Merlot which you can read about here. While my original intent was
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Tbilvino, established in 1962, has grown into a leading producer of Georgian wines with a 6.5 million bottle portfolio. The company operates two wineries;
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This week I'm continuing my #Merlober celebrations with wine pairings for two Merlots from the same Turkish winery: Claros. Claros winery comes to us from
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Öküzgözü Şarapçılık outside Izmir is one of those curious cases we see occasionally here. It is both a bulk and a boutique winery. The
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We all know Sultaniye; whether or not we actually know we do! In America we're more likely to refer to it as "Sultana" and
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Recently I participated in the #WinePW group's #MerlotMe conversation. You can read all about that here. I thought that would be the end of
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Based in the coastal town of Alaçatı south of Izmir, Gemici Family Wines/Alaçatı Şarapçılık makes wine on a small scale. In this charming little city
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While probably half the wines I buy in Greece invariably end up being Assyrtiko, or Assyrtiko-lead blends, I am always on the lookout for
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This month the #WinePW group is taking advantage of October being #MerlotMe month. See the original invitation from Jeff at Food Wine Click! here. I
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Summer is waning away here in Istanbul. While the forecast promises warmer days again, we're currently experiencing temperature drops and overcast skies. So while
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Kayseri has developed a reputation for having some great food in Turkey. Manti - the tiny yogurt-topped Turkish ravioli - comes from here. Kayseri
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Nestled in a bowl-like cradle in mountainous Bodrum and nearly lost in the riotous greenery of the surrounding agriculture grow vines of Cabernet Franc,
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Last Saturday I hosted another Turkish wine Taste Along. In addition to having a wee handful of people physically present with me, tasters joined
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Wine writer turned winery owner Şeyla Ergenekon and winemaker husband Çağatay cultivate organic grapes on the Gallipoli Peninsula. There they concentrate on French varieties
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Hailing from some of Turkey's most easterly vineyards in Elazığ, Öküzgözü is the number one planted wine grape in Turkey. As demonstrated in my
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This month the #winophiles are exploring the Côtes du Rhône. You can view the preview here. Originally I was going to pass on this
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I stumbled across Kayra's Versus Viognier some years ago in a charming Greek fish restaurant here in Istanbul. Despite the recent surge of Viognier's
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I generally try to bring attention to wineries in Turkey that champion native grapes. However, some of the wineries here that focus on international
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For this month's #WinePW, host Gwendolyn from Wine Predator has invited us all to Re/Consider Harvest: How will global warming change what we eat,
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I've been holding onto my notes of these two Saranta Chateau Murou Chardonnay wines for a while now. My hope was that I could
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Mersin, along Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast, brings to mind beaches and resorts. Not so much wine. And to be fair, only a very few
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Continuing my COVID quarantine virtual traveling down memory lane with Austria. I've already (re)visited Austria with my post about Steiermark. This time around I'm
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Located in the northern reaches of Turkey's Aegean region, Selendi Şarapları prides itself on its many red wines. I, however, vastly prefer their whites.
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Kösetevek is a "new" grape; or more accurately, newly reinvigorated. The grape comes from Elazığ in the east of Turkey where it has been
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My journey to rosé progresses slowly. I still approach most pink wines with trepidation and distrust. However, last summer during a visit to Amadeus
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This month the #winophiles are embarking on a no holds barred exploration of the Loire Valley. Lead by Jill at L'Accasion, whose original invitation
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About an hour's drive outside Izmir, arriving at Nif Bağları gives you the feeling of having found a desert oasis. Located off an unmarked,
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Despite the ever growing number of native white grape varieties in Turkey, Chardonnay along with Sauvignon Blanc remain very popular. Chardonnay here went through
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Just because the weather has turned hot and summery does not mean red wine lovers should despair of not comfortably drinking red wines! Many
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The Turkish wine industry remains largely isolated. I still spend a lot of time saying "Yes, Turkey makes wine. Turkey has been making wine
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On Turkey's Bozcaada shelters several wineries from the strong winds that sweep across the island. A mix of native and international grapes grow here.
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One good thing to have come out of the Corona pandemic is that WSET now allows students to take the levels 1 and 2
Read MoreAs summer heats up Istanbul I remember with some fondness the bone chilling cold when I visited Graz a few years ago. I try
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I'm one of those annoying people who has to touch everything when they go through clothing and housewares stores. Although I am certainly trying
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Certainly we live in strange times now. I was one of those naive people who thought, or at least hoped, we'd achieve normalcy by
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[caption id="attachment_14586" align="alignright" width="300"] At Cinque with Baby[/caption] For most people Greece, especially Athens, means ancient gods, lots of marble columns, islands, and maybe gyros.
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I, like many people, have had my spring/summer travel plans interrupted by COVID-19. In May I was going to return to Budapest. I've been
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It has been so long since I've been to Moldova that I don't even remember what year it was. 2009? Maybe 2010? For a
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[caption id="attachment_14549" align="alignright" width="300"] Park in Bad Homburg[/caption] As part of my ongoing meandering down memory lane, I can across a bunch of pictures from
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[caption id="attachment_14489" align="alignleft" width="300"] Chreli Abano sulfur baths[/caption] Georgia is a perennial favorite destination of mine. I like to go at least once every other
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While I have been extremely lucky during this COVID pandemic, in that I have neither been sick and have kept my job; it is
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I continued my online wine tasting series last Friday with one of my favorite Turkish grapes, Öküzgözü. Öküzgözü wasn't always a favorite of mine. In fact
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Sauvignon Blanc enjoys great popularity in Turkey. It, along with Chardonnay, are not only the two most popular white wines here; they're even more
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For my next online tasting, I tackled what is probably the most popular native white grape in Turkey: Narince. I went a little overboard
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I've had a couple few Juhfark wines in the past. But I think I'd never actually tasted Juhfark until this bottle of Fekete Pince
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My foray so far into Slovenian wine has been limited but highly rewarding. I first visited Ljubljana with a dual purpose in mind: Christmas
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After the Bornova Misketi taste along went so well I moved on to one of my favorite Turkish black grapes, Kalecik Karası. Not only
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A few years ago I started offering monthly wine tasting events out of my apartment. Focusing on Turkish wine, I used these not only
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I recently gave an online taste along about the grape Bornova Misketi. While the trend has turned to making dry wines with this grape,
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I don't usually celebrate Rosé Day, pink wine not being a favorite of mine. However, this year the intermittent bright spring weather in Istanbul
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I recently read an article in Forbes by the great wine writer Dame Wine about British sparkling wine producer, Nyetimber. While I had the absolute
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So. Canadian wine, eh? Although in this case I suppose I should say "oui" as today's post is about Quebecois wine. My family is
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The Boğazkere grape comes from Diyarbakır in Turkey's farthest east vineyards. Commercial wineries do not exist in Diyarbakır. Wineries around the country either own
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Assyrtiko. The most iconic of Greek grapes immediately brings to mind images of Santorini, the distinctive vines, and the smell of the sea. Assyrtiko
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From one of the most recognizable names in Turkish wine comes the Turasan Seneler Cabernet Merlot Syrah blend. The Turasan Seneler line includes many
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Spring has finally spring in Istanbul. We don't have a lot of green in this city so every tender spring bud is a precious
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I know what you're thinking. "Wait, did you say Maui?!" Indeed I did. Kula is a white wine from Maui Wine, a winery located
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Last October Istanbites and I finally made it to Avşa island to visit Alp Törüner and his winery Büyülübağ. A lovely island in the
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Porta Caeli, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, is a luxury wine brand that tries to model itself after Bordeaux. The winery produces several series including
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Turkish winery Sevilen has winemaking facilities in both Mürefte and Aydın. They also have vineyards in several locations including Mürefte, Denizli, and across Anatolia.
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